Palm Beach School for Autism opens new campus

The Palm Beach School for Autism, a charter school specializing in serving students with autism, held a ribbon cutting for its brand new campus in suburban Lantana on Wednesday morning.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said School Board Chairman Chuck Shaw. ” That is what charter schools are supposed to be. It was a very touching experience.”

The school’s executive director, Ann Levene-Eisenberg, said the charter designed the new campus on Lantana Road near Lyons Road itself. The school currently has 200 students and has been operating on the new campus since Oct. 1 with space for another 30 students.

When the Palm Beach School for Autism originally opened on its old campus on the grounds of the former A.G. Holley state hospital in 1996 it only had room for 12 pre-school students, she said. It expended over the years but outgrew its old home and had long waiting lists for many programs.

The new home allowed the school to expand its programs and serve all the students on its waiting list, Levene-Eisenberg said. The school currently serves students between the ages of 3 and 15 but plans to build a second story on the new building in 2014 to serve high school students.